Teaching Kids To Sew

February 1, 2016

This Teaching Kids to Sew post is written from myexperience with mykids. They are now 6yrs and 8yrs old (a girl and a boy) and I have to say, they are getting rather good at sewing. When I say “good”, I mean that they are able to make neat little stitches on a simple “two fabric piece” sewing project. And I would say, generally speaking are better at sewing than their peers. When my kids sew, they tend to do the running stitch – which is the most straight forward and I am now looking to teach them more new stitches – like the back stitch and an over or hemming stitch. So if you are looking for ways for Teaching Kids to Sew, take a look at how we did it… and see if this is a way that would work for you. Check out other sewing projects for kids like these easy fabric flower or juggling chooks!

This post applies to teaching boys to sew too! I have one of each gender and both my kids like sewing – though my daughter is probably a little more obsessed with sewing! We have lots of easy sewing projects for kids to help you on your way too!

Here is what I have learnt about Teaching Kids to Sew

RED TED ART TV

1) Let them use real tools and use good quality tools.

Real needles, real thread.

With almost ALL our crafts, I have noticed that many child friendly products are actually craftily inferior – yes, they may be “safer” or the materials may be “cheaper”.

But blunt scissors or needles, stiff cheap fabric and rubbish glue (this is talking crafts in general), will result in disappointing results. The craft will be difficult to complete and the child will be frustrated and loose interest.

I actually **hate** many of the products aimed at children, because they are produced cheaply and thus are hard to make (though the craft itself is often cute and well designed).

So in summary – use proper needles.

Felted wool (like an old jumper) and good quality felts are a great starting point when teaching kids to sew. You can probably get away with a “wool needle” on these, which are less pointy. I love “felt sewn projects” as starting point for kids and have a number to share with you (see below).

2) It is never too early for teaching kids to sew*

*Always always supervise children. Learning to sew is a TOGETHER PROJECT!

Start teaching kids to sew whenever they show an interest! In our case, my son first held a REAL needle when he was 2 and a half, I was sewing some simple gingerbread men and I let him have a go at doing some crazy stitches himself.

Teaching a child to sew is something you to do together.. and you have to be there EVERY STEP OF THE WAY.

I THINK that this was my daughter’s first project! Some felt heart ornaments (or key rings). She was about 3.5yrs old. And this is an example where I sat with her litterally every stitch. I think she was even sitting on my lap.

This Nature Pouch is one of Red Ted’s first “big projects”. He was about 3.5yrs old too. I can’t remember now if he did all of it himself. But again – if you hop over to the Nature Pouch Craft post, you will see a short video, where I literally talk him through EVERY STEP!

3) Sew little, but often. Short & Simple.

Over the years, the kids and I have created MANY MANY SEWING projects. Lots of them have been small and I have never really gotten around to sharing them here on Red Ted Art. But all of them have been invaluable for them in learning to sew and also enjoying making something. For example:

Here the kids practiced their sewing skills by making tiny slippers for their monchichi toy! Cute, aren’t they? I think we glued on the buttons and pom poms.

We also have quite a number of “pillows” floating around the house – super simple sewing projects instigated by Pip Squeak and sewn all by herself and half falling apart.

Pip Squeak also has a penchant for sewing “dresses” for her friends – this consists of two pieces of fabric, sewing together and embellished with stickers. What her friends do with these I don’t know. But a lot of time and care is taken into creating them (we have even had melt downs over “but I want to sew them now” moments).

Here Pip Squeak and Red Ted sewing some simple 2 dimensional bunnies. I don’t know why I never got round to photographing the final bunnies. I will see if I can find them and update this “teaching kids to sew” post with more photos! On this project Pip Sqeuak did all the sewing around. I had to go over some “patches” where the stuffing would fall out.. but she did it brilliantly for age (then 5yrs old).

4) It is ok if they only do half a project themselves (or 1/3 or a 1/4)

… it is still THEIR project and their work. Kids are little and their concentration spans are shorter, but they can still enjoy the process and that sense of achievement. I have had many a reader QUESTION whether my children ACTUALLY AND TRULY made the craft I have shared as “Sewing for Kids”. And yes… they have.

I have sat with them through every stitch whilst they were small.

I have held the fabric for them and guided them to the next step.

I have finished projects for them, when needed, or sewn a “tricky corner” for them, whilst they did the straight bits.

I think that this is totally acceptable whilst TEACHING KIDS TO SEW. They need to have a sense of achievement and accomplishment. And sewing isn’t just about “them doing everything”, but about us working together! I would rather my son knows, he can start something and do it for as long as he enjoys and then for me to finish it so he can play with the toy, then say “he doesn’t want to have a go because he is worried it will take too long”. I think this particularly important when teaching boys to sew!

Now they are older, I only come and help if they get the thread in a knot or if it gets “unthreaded” or if they specifically ask me to finish a project for them, then I still do! I sometimes work “over some stitches”, if means there would be a hole and the stuffing would fall out. Or as they are still young, they don’t know how to “cast off” the thread or close openings left for stuffing.

6) Once they get a taste for it – let them sew!

My daughter right now could sew EVERY DAY if I let her. The only reason I don’t is that we do still need to sew together – or at least I need to be at hand to help here or there – be it with fabric cutting or threading of needles.

I WILL be focusing on teaching her how to thread a needle next. It will really help her become more independent.

I am also encouraging her to come up with her own designs – ie not “just” sew the things that I suggest (as much as I love coming up with child friendly projects for her). I get her to sketch out what she wants to do and discuss with her the process and what may or may not work.

This is a flower lavender cushion she decided to make at the weekend (and this prompted this “how to teach kids to sew” article. She had been talking about it ALL week. Talking about the colours and how she wanted a blue circle that is stuffed with a flower sewn on top (I call this her “Waterlily project”). My contributions? I….

cut the blue circles (in the size she wanted me too)

I sewed the stuffing hole shut

I pinned the flower petals together, but she sewed

I sewed the flower on (once she had made the flower itself)

She did the rest. And I have to say, I am impressed with her 6yrs old sewing skills!!

So, I hope this inspires you to think about teaching your kids to sew and that our experience helps you with how to teach kids to sew. We still have a long sewing journey ahead of us, but I think the best possible foundating have been “sewn” {couldn’t resist the pun}.

Here are some of our easy Sewing Projects for Kids, that you may like to check out as part of your teaching kids to sew plans:

We have this Felt Fruit kit and my 7yrs old daughter loves. It is a bit of a “together project”, I often add the faces for her, but she does manage most of the sewing herself. Find out more here US / UK.

Comments

I think it is a very important skill to teach. My daughter started at the age 4 with those awful kits so we did our own, It really does help with concentration, patience, hand – eye co-ordination and also more importantly creativity!

Loved your post and all your points! I’ve been teaching kids to hand sew for 20 years now and it still amazes me how well little kids can sew…we just need to get all those mums out there to realise what competent sewers kids can be 🙂

We have taught several of our children to sew as they are curious and want to do what we are doing. Most of them have started at 2 years of age. One of the things we found was that using the right sewing materials is super important for them to not be frustrated. If your small child is frustrated with the sewing materials you are using you might want to try Wool Blend felt. It is a beautiful material that is a little stiffer to sew making it easier for the child to make neat beautiful stitches. For thread use good quality cotton thread 3 or 6 strands. We like chenille needles #24 for sewing with children. They are small so they don’t leave big wholes but have a large eye so that children can learn to thread them usually by 4 or 5.
Just a few things we had to learn the hard way.

That is enjoyable. I began sewing with my child when she requested for this – she’s 5, 2!
Very first thing she desired to create was ‘a jacket on her elephant’. Oops, nicely, we made it happen! I simply reduce a reel of material that may go the stomach of the elephant around and one seam was created by us, and today he’s a. She was soo happy.

And me-too, because it exercised nicely. She kept the hook and lay on my panel, I assisted her to place the needle in in the back of the fabric, and occasionally to put on the fabric, therefore we’d possess a seam. It had been fantastic time invested togehter!

Thanks for giving me the courage to give my kids a proper needle! Wish I’d read this a few years ago!
Can’t believe how good my 5 year old is at sewing. She was frustrated with the plastic needles you get in the kits. Shes slowly doing a felt Xmas decoration and has pricked her finger a couple of times but hasn’t freaked out. She’s so keen and it’s so so lovely being able to sew with her and share my love of sewing that’s mostly been hidden away til now.

Thank you 🙂 I use a variety of things – either shop bought stuffing (you can often machine wash it), old tired pillows (open up and use the inside) and if it is small projects either cotton wool or normal yarn/ wool left overs!